Big fat fizzer of a surprise!

Okay, so we were driving up from Birmingham, with six months of suspense under our belts. Stuart and Catriona were heading down from Scotland, with about five hours of travel ahead of them. It was feeling tight as we made our way into Chester at about midday, as I knew that they were planning to arrive at around one, and I wanted to be sorted with snacks and flowers, and be well hidden by then.
So, we eventually find ourselves where we were supposed to be, driving on New Crane road, and able to see Appollo Blinds ahead, where our instructions told us to turn in and park. At the same moment that we pulled around the corner, my phone rang. It was Stuart. We stopped on the roadway - a short dead end, at the end of the Wharf buildings, with about five cars parked to our right against the building's end.
"We're here", Stuart informed me. He told me he was standing at the wharf side of the buildings calling me, while he had left Cat and the kids in the car. I told Shane to move forward a bit to see if we could see him, during which time Stu asked where we were, and I told him we had just turned in at Apollo. He promptly told me that that was where he was parked. I looked over my shoulder in time to see a familiar figure hopping out of a car seat and standing up. "There she is" I yelled (or maybe screamed) at Shane. "Drive". So we went around the back of the blind shop and a garage, and waited there, with Stu still on the phone. The plan being that they were going to go and have a wander around, while we did our secret secreting. Then we saw him. Walking to our car with his hands saying 'stop'. "She's seen you" he informed us. Game up.
It would be easy to be disappointed, given the hours of imagining that have gone into this. (and in fact Sam took it hard and was quite dark for the first twenty minutes of our time together, declaring, "Well that was a waste of time" instead of "Nice to meet you Aunty Cat") But it wasn't.
You can't be disappointed when you are finally face to face with dear friends, after seven years of separation. Nor can you be anything but overwhelmed, emotional and grateful, when you are able to give a hug to the beautiful children you have never met before, but have known and loved since you knew of their impending arrivals.
Cat was shaking all over. She probably wouldn't have recognised us - or even have been looking, if it hadn't been Nathan's announcement only a minute earlier of, "Now that we are in CHester, I can tell you that we are going to see Shane and Fiona." "Ey?" Asked Cat, assuming he was referring to something else, or at best was confused. But he backed up his understanding by asking, "I don't know why we couldn't meet them at the airport?" So, you see, when we drove past, Cat's heart was already racing, and she was looking around, suddenly suspicious of where Stu had gone, and could this be true! Her first words to him when he appeared after our call were, "And you kept this from me...." at which point he knew that the cat (as in, the feline) was out of the bag.
So here we are. In Chester. Having a lovely time with lovely people.
Chester is a walled city, as many are, but this one is special as it is the only one where the wall is still complete. I know this because I read it as I walked around that very wall this evening. We simply strolled around the town today, through the markets, heard the town crier at midday, and took a short cruise up the river. We also visited the site of a Roman ampitheatre (or what was left of it) and enjoyed the beautiful park by the river. We will return to this park tomorrow to feed the super friendly squirrels, catch an antique bus around the town for a tour, and ride the mini train.
Then on Thursday it will be off and out to the Chester Zoo.
I should add that the title of this log suggests that the surprise was a flop - I guess it is really our plan that fizzed out, the surprise was still there for Catriona, and the thrill of catching up just as wonderful for us. I am just super glad that we didn't invest in wigs and costumes for any of our more elaborate set ups....